Drugs were a part of music culture long before rock and roll was even an embryo.  But as that embryo began growing up and experimenting with drugs, it began writing music and lyrics about them, and became closely associated with them in the public’s mind.  Sex, drugs and rock and roll—weren’t they what a musician’s life was all about?  Some rockers didn’t mince words when they wrote about drugs, while others left their lyrics open to interpretation.  Here’s a sampling of songs with lyrics describing the seductive—and destructive—power of drugs:

“Cocaine” by Eric Clapton

An obvious lyric, right?  Not quite.  Originally written and recorded by J.J. Cale in 1975, the song was hugely popularized by Eric Clapton’s cover version.  But Clapton stresses that the lyrics, “If you wanna get down, down on the ground,” are very anti-cocaine and describe its ravages.  To emphasize that point, Clapton later added the lyrics, “that dirty cocaine,” during his concerts.

“White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane

This song’s music sounds trippy.  Its lyrics sound trippy.  Its vocals sound trippy.  And for a good reason:  it’s about LSD.  A Jefferson Airplane classic, its psychedelic lyrics and music were written by singer Grace Slick.  The song equates an acid trip to the hallucinatory imagery of author Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass.”  When Slick sings the lyrics, “Feed your head,” she’s not exactly encouraging listeners to go to the library.

“Dancing on Glass” by Motley Crue

When it comes to drugs, Motley Crue—particularly bassist and recovering heroin addict, Nikki Sixx—aren’t shy about writing lyrics about them, or admitting they used them.  Sixx’s lyrics, “Valentine’s in London, found me in the trash,” refer to an incident in which he immediately OD’d after allowing a seedy London drug dealer to shoot him up.  The panicked dealer thought Sixx was dead, and threw him into a dumpster.  Sixx miraculously revived on Valentine’s Day, surrounded by trash.  Not exactly the same as receiving flowers and candy.

“Mr. Brownstone” by Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses is another band whose members used their bodies as chemistry labs, and lived to write lyrics and music about it.  In the song lyrics, “We’ve been dancing with Mr. Brownstone,” “brownstone” is slang for heroin.  According to guitarist Slash, he and co-guitarist Izzy Straddlin came up with the lyrics while they were complaining about being heroin addicts, and scribbled the words on a grocery bag.  He said the lyrics described a typical day in the two guitarists’ lives, at the time.

“The Needle and the Damage Done” by Neil Young

The sorrowfully sung lyrics of this classic made it a renowned anti-heroin song.  The lyrics, “I’ve seen the needle and the damage done…every junkie’s like a settin’ sun,” were about the heroin use of Young’s guitarist, Danny Whitten, who overdosed several months after the song’s release.  Young’s comment about the song lyrics was, “I am not a preacher, but drugs killed a lot of great men.”

Who knows how many amazing unsung songs and lyrics those men still had in them?

Musicians agonize over their lyrics.  They struggle for hours to pinpoint the perfect song lyrics to express what they feel, and to make us feel it, too.  They irritably stare at a blank computer screen, as though the machine is withholding brilliant lyrics from them.  They irritably stare at the ceiling, but the ceiling’s not telling them anything, either.  They’re surrounded by wadded up pieces of paper filled with lyrics that came close, but not close enough.  They mutter.  They mumble.  They pace.  They guzzle coffee.  They wonder if they’ll ever sleep again.  Then, when leaping from the roof seems like an appealing option, it finally hits them:  the perfect lyrics!

And, after all of this, what do listeners do?  They misunderstand the lyrics!

Admit it—you’ve done it.  Heck, we’ve all done it.  Driving in the car, radio on, belting out the lyrics to a song at the top of our lungs, when our passenger laughs hysterically and asks, “Is that what you think they’re singing?”  With all due respect to the songwriters, misunderstood lyrics can actually be hilarious.  And some of them have become as famous as the real lyrics.

Here are a batch of misunderstood lyrics.  You might just recognize a few and say, “So, that’s what the lyrics really are!”

“Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix

This Hendrix classic tops the list of most commonly misunderstood song lyrics.

      •     The real lyric:  ‘Scuse me, while I kiss the sky.

      •     The misunderstood lyric:  ‘Scuse me, while I kiss this guy.

“Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Another widely—and comically—misunderstood lyric.

      •     The real lyric:  There’s a bad moon on the rise.

      •     The misunderstood lyric:  There’s a bathroom on the right.

“Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan

      •     The real lyric:  The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.  The answer

            is blowin’ in the wind.

      •     The misunderstood lyric:  The ants are my friends, they’re blowin’ in the

            wind.  The ants are a-blowin’ in the wind.

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones

      •     The real lyric:  We’re gonna vent our frustration.  And if we don’t we’re

            gonna blow a 50-amp fuse.

      •     The misunderstood lyric:  We’re gonna vent our frustration.  And if we

            don’t we’re gonna blow up 5th Avenue.

“Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi

      •     The real lyric:  It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not.

      •     The misunderstood lyric:  It doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or

            not.

“Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin

      •     The real lyric:  A big-legged woman ain’t got no soul.

      •     The misunderstood lyric:  A pig-headed woman ain’t got no soul.

“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC

      •     The real lyric:  Dirty deeds and they’re done dirt cheap.

      •     The misunderstood lyric:  Dirty deeds and they’re done with sheep.

As long as musicians are writing lyrics, listeners will be mangling them.  The songs may not remain the same, but fans’ love of them—misunderstood or not—will.

Hip hop is, today, without any doubt, in top 3 of the most popular music genres. Just take a look at the music charts to see that this fact is correct. Those powerful beats, those rap lyrics, the funky artists in trendy clothes, the dynamic videos and the danceable tunes – what makes this kind of music that popular? In any case, there isn’t a single chart that doesn’t include the rap hits. And the music industry is full of hip hop beats and hits. But who makes them? Who sings them? Who will be the most popular rap artists in 2007?

It seems that nowadays, male hip hop artists tend to associate with hot, young and popular female artists that sing either pop or R&B, in order to release hits and only hits. For example, it seems that Jay Z is still making combos with Beyonce and we all know that everything that Beyonce touches turns into a hit – and this is the case of her latest song that features Jay Z. Then of course, there is Ludacris, who, in combination with Fergie, managed to release a great spring 2007 hit that topped the charts.

But in order to establish the hottest rap artists for 2007, we might look further than the actual music charts – let’s take a look at the music awards, for example. MTV Video Music Awards 2006 (and who else promotes hip hop music, if not MTV?) awarded a wide range of such artists. The hip hop artists were not simply awarded in their specific category, since the best song and best male artist also featured highly known artists such as Busta Rhymes or 50 Cent.

But besides them, there were many new names: T.I. with his hit What You Know, young Joc, Kayne West or Daddy Yankee. Considering their success in 2006, we might guess that they will make it into the charts in 2007, as well – unless they are all one hit wonders. And many music critics would place their bets on Kayne West and, obviously, on the winner of the best rap category, namely Chamillionaire (featuring Krayzie Bone).

But we couldn’t possibly talk about hiphop artists without mentioning Black Eyed Peas – after all, they won numerous hip hop awards, even if some say that they lean more towards a hyperactive dance style than to the more aggressive hip hop. In any case, they release hit after hit and most definitely, they will hit the charts in 2007, too.

Well, the above artists might not be Run DMC (who were on top of numerous charts as the best of the best in rap music – after all, they were the first ones), but they seem to promise offering a great number of hits this year.